Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Music A composition or passage for an individual voice or instrument, with or without accompaniment.
- noun A performance by a single singer or instrumentalist.
- noun Games Any of various card games in which one player singly opposes others.
- adjective Music Composed, arranged for, or performed by a single voice or instrument.
- adjective Made or done by a single individual.
- adverb Unaccompanied; alone.
- intransitive verb To perform a solo.
- intransitive verb To fly an airplane without a companion or an instructor, especially for the first time.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun In card-playing, a bid to play without a partner or without discarding from the hand, as in solo whist and skat.
- In music, alone; not combined with other voices or instruments of equal importance; not concerted. A solo passage may be accompanied, however, by voices or instruments of less importance.
- noun It. pl. soli (-li), E. pl. solos (-lōz).
- noun A melody, movement, or work intended for or performed by a single performer, vocal or instrumental, with or without accompaniment. Opposed to concerted piece, whether chorus, duet, trio, or for a number of instruments.
- noun A game of cards, played usually by four persons, with a euchre pack.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective (Music) Performing, or performed, alone; uncombined, except with subordinate parts, voices, or instruments; not concerted.
- noun (Mus.) A tune, air, strain, or a whole piece, played by a single person on an instrument, or sung by a single voice.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun music A piece of
music for one performer. - noun A job or performance done by one person alone.
- noun A
card game similar towhist in which each player plays against the others in turn without a partner. - noun A single shot of
espresso . - adjective Without a companion or instructor.
- adjective Of, or relating to, a musical solo.
- verb To perform a solo.
- verb To perform something in the absence of anyone else.
- verb Gaelic football To
drop the ball and thentoe -kick it upward into the hands.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb fly alone, without a co-pilot or passengers
- adjective composed or performed by a single voice or instrument
- noun a flight in which the aircraft pilot is unaccompanied
- noun a musical composition for one voice or instrument (with or without accompaniment)
- noun any activity that is performed alone without assistance
- verb perform a piece written for a single instrument
- adverb without anybody else or anything else
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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A _full anthem_ is one containing no solo parts; a _solo anthem_ is one in which the solo part is predominant over the chorus, while a _verse anthem_ is one in which the chorus parts alternate with passages for concerted solo voices (_i. e._, trios, quartets, etc.).
Music Notation and Terminology Karl Wilson Gehrkens 1928
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Dick Reese's violin solo is to be one of our titbits and Kit Reese is in every tableau and the three small girls have the cutest flag-drill.
Rilla of Ingleside Lucy Maud 1921
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Luckily, it hasn't all come at the same time, [laughs] I think that's what you call a solo career.
Bono On Bono Assayas, Michka 2005
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Thompson's solo is a cry from the heart, both a reflection of the violence, the tortured mind of Wells and the women he slaughtered.
Michael Giltz: Music: Richard Thompson at Town Hall Michael Giltz 2010
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The drum solo is one of the more dreaded conventions in rock but he made it a delight.
Michael Giltz: Music: Richard Thompson at Town Hall Michael Giltz 2010
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A nifty tear-jerker featuring extortionists, some fine Robin solo work, the backfiring of Bruce's playboy pose, and (I have to admit) some questionable family-law procedure.
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Following her successful stint as eye-candy for Simon Cowell, Cheryl Cole is to hopefully bugger off to the States and never return, while the four other ones (whose names your Correspondent can't be bothered to look up) have all announced straight-to-bargain-bin solo projects, cameo roles in soap operas and kiss'n'tell exposees of how they worked their way through the entire Liverpool squad in one night.
Girls Aloud Sign New Contract Dungeekin 2009
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Thompson's solo is a cry from the heart, both a reflection of the violence, the tortured mind of Wells and the women he slaughtered.
Michael Giltz: Music: Richard Thompson at Town Hall Michael Giltz 2010
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Following her successful stint as eye-candy for Simon Cowell, Cheryl Cole is to hopefully bugger off to the States and never return, while the four other ones (whose names your Correspondent can't be bothered to look up) have all announced straight-to-bargain-bin solo projects, cameo roles in soap operas and kiss'n'tell exposees of how they worked their way through the entire Liverpool squad in one night.
Archive 2009-02-01 Dungeekin 2009
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The drum solo is one of the more dreaded conventions in rock but he made it a delight.
Michael Giltz: Music: Richard Thompson at Town Hall Michael Giltz 2010
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